Kenya Updates

Nakuru, Kenya 8-10

Hello people. I'm writing from an internet cafe in Nakuru. I just bought some earrings from astreet vendor for 200 shillings, Roxanne is playing in the background, the sunis shining, life is beautiful.

We drove into Kericho yesterday and went to a rural community where there is a group of women who support orphans in their community who have been abandoned due to AIDS. Often, children are literally left alone to fend for themselvesif their parents die from AIDS. There was and continues to be a lot of stigmatization placed on people living with AIDS and children with AIDS are no exception. Things are changing though and we have met and talked with a lot of progressive minded folks who are doing amazing things for their community. Anyway, we went to this community yesterday and were greeted with people singing and dancing in their native language. It was literally one of the most amazing things I have ever been a part of in my life. I can't reallybegin to articulate it. It was just one of the most beautiful days I have ever experienced. All captured on film and video, of course. The children squealed with laughter every time I bent over and revealed the "drawing" on my back. By the end of the visit they were all calling me butterfly. I could literally cryjust thinking about it. That is a basic snapshot of how this trip is going. We have met the coolest people and seen some fucking amazing shit.

Some highlights:
-Zebras on the side of the road driving from Nairobi to Nakuru
-A rainbow that looked like it was being illuminated from inside
-A serious run in with some not-happy muslims in a slum in Nairobi
-Toilets that warrant having their picture taken
-having no recollection of the last time I showered
-Disco dancing to Bon Jovi at a club in Nakuru followed by drunken wrestlingthat resulted in the destruction of a perfectly good mosquito net

And we haven't even been here a week. Needless to say, I am having an amazing time. It's been nice knowing you. I am never coming back.

Much love, of course, Tamara

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Kitale, Kenya 8-16

Hello,people. So we are heading to Kitale today. It is about a 5 hour drive from Nakuru (where we are now) and is supposed to be more agricultural. I am really curious to see it as compared to Nakuru which is far less city-like than Nairobi. The further west we go, the more rural the areas we visit are. The rural areas tend more towards traditional cultural practices than the cities and apparently the areas around Kitale are the parts of the country where practices like wife inheritance still come into play. We will be spending 4 days with an orginazation called Common Ground which has program sites in the rural areas around Kitale and then we will go to the Nyanza province near LakeVictoria for 4 days to visit a program called Mama na Dada. There are descriptions of both at www.villagevolunteers.org under the 'programs' menu if you are so inclined. It will be nice to spend a few days with specific organizations rather than visiting a different organization or multiple organizations in a day. We are still having a good time although I have to say that things have been pretty heavy. The other day we went into a slum in Nakuru that borders a huge trash dump and we met with organized groups of people who literally live off of the trash that they collect. They have programs in place where people salvage trash to use as materials for making bags and such and an "organic" composting program. It makes sense that people use trash as a resource, but the fact that these groups are looking for help to assist them in living off of trash rather than attempting to make a different life for themselves is a sign of how dire alot of people's circumstances are here. At one point during the visit a woman from one of the groups wanted to lead us in a prayer and them proceeded to literally yell to god in swahili about the help that they need. I realizedthat I have never and problably will never need or want anything as bad as she does. As a lot of people here do. It is ridiculous how easy our lives are in comparison to others.

I have to go meet the team now to start heading out. The roads here are pretty rough to say the least, but we have a fearless driver named Kamau who has managed to see us through some pretty sketchy situations. He is a riot, barely speaks english but is prone to randomly yell out, TAM-A-RA, for no reason at all. It's good shit, I tell you. Apparently my name is the easiest for people to pronounce. The real difficulty comes when people try to say Matt or Courtney. They just quit trying after awhile. But, for whatever reason my name translates to them. Thanks Mama and Papa.

Hope all is well with you and yours. I will be in touch.

Much love always, TAM-A-RA

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Kisumu, Kenya 8-24

Hello people. So, we have spent the last week and a half in western Kenya, getting to know some awesome organizations. For the last four days we were in Kunya Village which is in the Nyanza provice right on Lake Victoria. We were staying with an organization called Mama na Dada and the grounds looked right over the lake and distant mountains. The second day we were there, there was this sick rainbow right over the lake. It was so fucking beautiful I didn't know what to do with myself. I almost threw up.

It's amazing that an area so physically beautiful can be so ravished by a disease. We spoke with community health care workers who estimate that one in five people in the area are infected with HIV. The Kenyan government has programs in place whereby HIV+ citizens who have white cell counts below a certain number are able to get ARVs for free. The problem is that it's really difficult for people in rural areas to get the drugs. Often, people won't be tested, even though they know that resources exist, simply because they know that they will not be able to get to the drungs consistantly. Kisumu is the closest city to Kunya Village and it takes about two hours to get to by car. And NO ONE has a car. They don't even have running water or electricity. All of their water comes from the lake, which is by no means clean (we were warned to not even dip a pinky toe in it, much less drink it) and the community health workers told us that while AIDS is devestating the community, large numbers of people die from diarehea due to contaminated water and food. It's literally a struggle for them to survive. Mind boggling.

I went on a home visit while we were there and I met a woman named Clarice who is dying of AIDS. She has three children and they all live with her mother who is the caregiver for all of them. They have no income and Clarice hasn't beenable to get off of her mattress for 8 months. She was very open and candid and even though at this point she is pretty much skeletal, you can tell she was once exceptionally beautiful. You could also tell from looking at her kids. We talked with her and when we left I thanked her and shook her hand. She is so small and thin, it's crazy. It was completely surreal to leave her little mudhouse and walk out and look across some of the most beautiful scenery i have ever seen in my life. Things are pretty heavy, but we still manage to have a good time. Many of the organization directors that we meet make comments about how much we laugh. The people here seem to enjoy the fact that we are always willing to make asses of ourselves singing and dancing with them and we gorge ourselves on the food they offer. We think we might be the only people to come to eastern Africa who manage to gain weight. Communication between the team is good, and we are all aware of the magnatude of the experience we are having. It has truly been anamazing trip. There are moments, both beautiful and devastating, burned into my mind that will never go away. Everyday is incredible.

On a lighter note, some highlights:
-The road to Kunya Village which was less a road and more a path for bikes and donkeys. Literally. It turned my ass into hamburger.
-No running water and 8 people in one room. By the end we went out in teams to scope out places to take a crap and high fived each other when we thought we had found a particularly sweet spot. Simple pleasures.
-I literally have no recollection of the last time I showered. I'm pretty sure there is something living in my hair.
-Standing in a windstorm at night looking over the lake while lightening lit up the sky. We had drank a lot of wine. I'm not going to lie, I took my shirt off. It was glorious.

I have to go, we are driving back to Nakuru today and then back to Nairobi tomorrow. The trip is coming to an end. I'm going to weep like a child when they drop me off at the airport.

Hope all is well.

Much love, Tamara

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Nairobi, Kenya 8-26

So we are back in Nairobi and I have to admit that I am really bummed about it. We have been able to see some amazing places and get to know some of the best people and now it really feels like the trip is over. Nairobi is a big, dirty city and we have a couple of days of work left and we are all completely burned out on the documentary tip. Today we are going into Kibera which is regarded as one of the worst slums in Africa. We drove through there the first week we were here, just on the outskirts, and while most people found our presence novel and humorous, at least once I heard a hearty, 'Fuck you' float out of the crowd. I know it will all be fine, but I am bitchy about being back in Nairobi and the fact that yesterday we had to say goodbye to Denis Kimambo, one of our guides,who I had grown really attached to. We meet him in Nakuru and we documented the work he is doing with community and street theater to raise awareness on HIV and AIDS in slums. He traveled with us to Kitale and Kunya Village and had really become a part of the group. Dropping him off yesterday, I felt that involuntary quiver in my chin and was sort of flooded by the realization of how far away my life is from this place. I am so happy that I have met the peoplethat I have along the way, but it always sucks to say goodbye not really knowing when or if you will see them again. Shitty. And it's gray, cold, and rainy in Nairobi. I need a hug.

We leave late Sunday night and get into Austin late Monday evening. We have a 9 hour layover in London, so we might try to pop into the city for lunch or to hit up a pub. No big deal.

It's a strange thing to be aware of life changing events as they are happening to you. The reality of the devestation of poverty and disease on developing countries is the burden of my generation, I think. If these issues aren't adequately addressed in my lifetime then I think it's fair to say that this generation will have failed. Of course, that is just my opinion.

I'll be okay, I promise. On a lighter note, in the hotel where we are currently staying, if you turn on the shower the water sprays directly into the toilet. It's fuckinh genius I tell you... genius.

Mad love always, Tamara